Bank Robber Had a Taxicab Waiting Outside

A bandit took a taxi Monday to two banks, robbing one of them before hopping aboard a shuttle bus that dropped him off at Los Angeles International Airport, where he made good his escape, police said.

“He had the cab wait for him out front (of the banks) while he went in,” Los Angeles Police Lt. Bruce Meyer said.

The man took the cab from a Van Nuys motel to a Bank of America branch office in the 6600 block of Laurel Canyon Boulevard in North Hollywood, Meyer said. He entered the bank at 11:15 a.m. and demanded money from a teller. But the teller stalled, and the robber grew impatient and left.

“He came out and had the cab driver take him to another Bank of America branch,” Meyer said.

The second stop was in the 10300 block of North Sepulveda Boulevard in Mission Hills. The man went into the bank carrying a gym bag and indicated to a teller that he had a gun, Meyer said. This time he was given about $1,200, the lieutenant said.

After the heist, the man returned to the waiting cab and directed the driver to take him to the shuttle bus terminal at Van Nuys Airport, Meyer said.

“The cab driver did not know this guy was robbing banks,” the lieutenant said. “He thought the guy had some business he was taking care of.”

At Van Nuys Airport, the robber took an 11:50 a.m. shuttle bus to LAX. Police located the cab driver but were unable to trace the man’s trail in time to stop the bus before it reached the airport.

Meyer said that by the time police caught up with the bus, it was completing its drop-offs at passenger terminals. When officers searched the bus, the robber was gone, apparently having stepped off into the crowd of travelers, he said. A hourlong search of the airport area also proved fruitless.

Meyer said the man may be the same robber who relied on public transportation during a recent bank robbery in Burbank. In that case, a man took a cab to a bank, robbed it and then took the taxi to Burbank Airport, where he boarded a shuttle bus to LAX and disappeared.